Last Day of Summer. Reflecting on the Season. Free Lemonade.

This summer marked many events. My older daughter's 6th birthday. A dear coworker relocating to Hong Kong. Our kitchen remodel finally finished.

It also marked my daughters' first lemonade stand. At first my wife and girls wanted to give away the lemonade (and watermelon wedges) for free. But, this would not do. We bought cups, Paul Newman's Lemonade, and a watermelon. I'd be darned to give it away to the residents of Princeton.

Instead, I decided on a social experiment. It was spawned by a couple random questions:

What would happen if we asked for tips?

Would the girls make more money by giving away the lemonade and watermelon and having a tip jar.

In fact, the girls did make more money. Some people drank lemonade and ate watermelon without paying (mostly because they didn't have any money with them). Others walked on. BUt most tipped the girls more than they would have paid for the lemonade. Carson and Julianna ended up making 48% more money than had they charged $0.50 per lemonade and $0.50 per watermelon slice.